About

Exploring the future through science, art, and imagination

Creative Time Lab is a France-based non-profit organization dedicated to advancing research and creative practice on how humans relate to time—especially the future. Founded in Lyon, the association brings together researchers, artists, designers, and educators to explore how our sense of the future shapes mental health, well-being, and social transformation.

Grounded in scientific research on time perspective and futurization, Creative Time Lab develops and applies innovative, participatory formats that bridge psychology, art, and design. The association organizes conferences, workshops, festivals, and immersive experiences that help individuals and communities engage with the future in a hopeful, proactive way.

Our Mission

We work to:

  • Conduct and disseminate scientific research on how people think and feel about the future.
  • Translate research into creative public formats—installations, workshops, and community programs—that foster emotional resilience and agency.
  • Create safe, reflective spaces for dialogue about the future across generations and cultures.
  • Promote collaboration between science and the arts to address global and local societal challenges.
  • Support the well-being of individuals and communities by transforming future-related anxiety into creative engagement and meaningful action.

Flagship Project: The Space of Futurization

Young people today face growing uncertainty about the future. Nearly 59% of youth globally report feeling deeply worried about what lies ahead, while in France around 45% of adolescents experience anxiety disorders. More than 80% of young people report being concerned about climate change, which adds to feelings of instability and fear. These concerns often lead to helplessness and loss of meaning—highlighting the urgent need to support youth mental health in times of rapid change.

The Space of Futurization is an immersive installation that helps young people transform anxiety about the future into creative reflection and meaningful action. It is based on more than a decade of international research led by Dr. Anna Sircova, developed with international partners including the Time Perspective Network, DIS: Study Abroad in Scandinavia, and Creative Time Studio (Denmark), and realized in France with the support of April Foundation, NFEtudes, and Festival Terres du Son, it merges psychological research with participatory art.

First prototyped in Copenhagen (2019) and launched at Terres du Son Festival (2024), the installation invites participants to explore personal and collective futures through sensory, emotional, and creative engagement. By transforming abstract anxiety into shared imagination, the project fosters hope, emotional regulation, connection, agency and meaning-making — core mechanisms of psychological resilience.

Vision

By combining science, creativity, and collective reflection, we aim to redefine our relationship with time—turning anxiety into agency, and imagination into action.

📍 Based in: Caluire-et-Cuire, France

💡 Fields: Psychology | Design | Participatory Art | Education | Mental Health | Future Studies

Creative Time Lab

Based in Caluire-et-Cuire, France

Registration number: W691111408
JOAFE: Annonce n° 1367, 157 année. – N°36, 9 September, 2025

Articles of the Association

Board of the Association

Frédéric Martinez – President
Bruno Pommier – Treasurer
Daria Druzhinenko – Secretary